China sacks state firm head amid corruption probe

AFP, SHANGHAI

China yesterday announced the removal of the head of one its major state-owned firms, conglomerate China Resources, for suspected law violations, state media reported using terms which typically refer to corruption.

The ruling Chinese Communist Party sacked Song Lin (宋林) as chairman and party chief of China Resources, one of just over a hundred key state-owned enterprises administered directly by the central government, Xinhua news agency reported.

China Resources Co, a Fortune magazine Global 500 company last year, has a range of business interests including the retail, power, property, natural gas and pharmaceutical sectors, according to its Web site.

Song was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and law,” Xinhua said, but gave no details.

The announcement of Song’s removal came just two days after the party’s corruption watchdog said the executive was under investigation.

A journalist with the Economic Information Daily newspaper, which operates under Xinhua, has accused him of accepting bribes, laundering money and keeping a mistress.

Song denied those claims in a statement a day before the investigation was announced, calling them a fabrication.

The South China Morning Post yesterday linked Song to an employee of Swiss financial services firm UBS in Hong Kong, saying the company was now conducting an internal investigation on the issue.

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